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Comment deadline extended for West Berkeley Shellmound site plan

Native Americans and other activists have protested the plan, which calls for 155 apartments, about 30,000 square feet of stores and restaurants, and a six-level, 372-space parking garage on a 2.2-acre lot that is within the city-landmarked West Berkeley Shellmound site

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A parking lot where a development has been proposed is seen across the street from Spenger’s Fish Grotto seafood restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)

A parking lot where a development has been proposed is seen across the street from Spenger’s Fish Grotto seafood restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)

BERKELEY — The review period for a report on a development proposal on the city-landmarked West Berkeley Shellmound site has been extended to Feb. 9, the city announced Friday.

The deadline for public review and comment on the draft environmental impact report for the 1900 Fourth Street project was supposed to be Jan. 12 after initially being set for Jan. 5.

In an email to a roster of interested parties on Friday, Berkeley Acting Land Use Manager Shannon Allen said the latest extension was in response to a request by Andrew Galvan of the Ohlone Indian tribe.

Galvan, president of Ohlone Indian Tribe Inc. of Fremont, also is a consultant to the 1900 Fourth St. development team. The site currently serves as parking lot for Spenger’s Fish Grotto.

West Berkeley Investors has applied to build 155 apartments, about 30,000 square feet of stores and restaurants, and a six-level, 372-space parking garage on the 2.2-acre site, bounded by Fourth Street, University Avenue, the Union Pacific railroad tracks, and Hearst Avenue.

The plan has sparked protests from Native Americans and other activists who say it would desecrate an indigenous sacred site. Over the years, human remains have been found near the site, most recently those of five individuals uncovered during trenching work earlier this year on another project immediately across Fourth Street.

But Mark Rhoades, a representative of the developer team, has said that as a result of testing conducted at the lot by archaeologist Allen Pastron and Galvan, “we have found no evidence, or even potential evidence, that cultural resources exist at the site.”

At public meetings of the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Zoning Adjustments Board in December, members of the public had urged the city to extend the comment period, but officials demurred, saying only special circumstances would permit them to do so.

In a letter to Allen dated Dec. 22, Galvan said the complexity of issues raised at the December meetings “will require additional time to bring internal clarity from the Chochenyo Ohlone community.”

“I believe it is important that the Chochenyo Ohlone community engage in an internal discussion so we can meaningfully participate in the public review process,” Galvan wrote, adding, “I am requesting, that due to unusual circumstances, that the City of Berkeley extend the public comment period of the 1900 Fourth Street Draft Environmental Impact Report for an additional 30 days.”

City officials did not immediately respond to an email Friday asking what criterion that had not been raised by others during the December meetings enabled them to grant the extension now.

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